Revision as of 22:40, 4 July 2012

A city holds its collective breath for the impending doom and the Sword of Damocles hangs over the Royal Society. Edinburgh approaches a pivotal moment in history.

The City is destined.

Decades of stagnation creates an atmosphere of complacency between the renowned Magistrates and entrenched Seers. The status quo cannot hold against enormous external and internal pressures.

The City must change.

Magical real estate and priceless arcane resources are up for grabs for the first time in living memory. Favours await to be earned and ancient secrets unearthed... but the player characters aren’t the only ones attracted by the spoils.

The City holds opportunity.

Upheaval in the Supernal Realms sends ripples through the Fallen World. The Royal Society’s struggles against its enemies reflect the Oracles’ battles with the Exarchs. Can changes that begin in Edinburgh be made real in the Supernal?

Characters cannot have been in Edinburgh's Awakened community within the last 5 years. Awakened mages native to Edinburgh may train elsewhere and be returning now.

Preludes are completely acceptable. Storytellers will run pre-Awakening or post-Awakening scenarios as availability allows, and we encourage other players to flesh out the character.

Age

Characters must be the age of eighteen and look of legal age. No character may Awaken younger than 18. In Caledonia, "young" Awakenings are comparatively rare. Most mages Awaken between 25 and 45, and the average age for a Gnosis 2 mage is 35.

Concept

Most of new, less experienced mages are coming from four Consilii allied to Edinburgh: the Celtic isle of Anglesey, the Norse-flavoured stronghold of Bergen, the bitter Roman rival of Londinium or the wild, chaotic state of Texas. Staff strongly advises basing your concept here for great roleplaying ties, an active stake in the fate of Edinburgh, and built-in connections to other characters from those areas. You might have shared or rival mentors.

Concepts should provide substantive ties to Edinburgh and a reason for the mage to remain for an extended period of time. Admins can help ground a character in the setting. Cookie cutter concepts without any attachment to the MU* or Scottish influence will be rejected.

Good: Pete came to Edinburgh from Anglesey to study hauntings in the city's ancient cemeteries. His Invisible College mentor studied with Urien and hopes Pete can receive the same instruction.

Needs Work: Pete is a grad student, and researches ghosts.

Path and Order

A Path connects a mage to one of the five Supernal Realms and allows her to channel magic. Orders are large societies of mages united by common philosophical views and history stretching back to the first Awakened mages.

Path and Order are selected first.

Attributes

Attributes are divided into mental, physical, and social categories that measure your capabilities in different fields.

Standard 5/4/3 point spread to spend.

Favoured attribute by Path added after CharGen.

Acanthus: Composure

Mastigos: Resolve

Moros: Composure

Obrimos: Resolve

Thyrsus: Composure

A dot of Resolve or Composure is added based on your Path. This dot cannot raise your Attribute1 to 5 or 6.

Min-maxing Attributes will result in rejection. You may raise a single dot from 1 with bonus XP.

One Attribute at 1 after CharGen permitted. The stat may not be raised for two months to avoid XP min-maxing.

Merits are divided into mental, physical, social, and Mage categories that encompass background traits or special resources. Mental merits grant augmented senses or mental tricks; Physical merits enhance physical capabilities; and Social merits provide a network or connections. Mage Merits define acquisition of power and knowledge. Custom merits are available.

Merits begin with 7 dots to assign.

You get a dot of Status (Order) and Language (High Speech) for free.

Merits taken at 4-5 dots require justification.

Gnosis and Wisdom

Gnosis measures a mage's magical will and capacity to change reality. Wisdom is the ability to balance the needs of this world with a yearning for the higher world. Mages command great power, but frequently fall prey to sins of Hubris.

Starting Gnosis is capped at 2.

You may drop Wisdom twice for experience points, and roll for Derangements. Wisdom loss must be described in your background.

Arcana

The ten Arcana are the divisions of reality, each originating from one of the five Supernal Realms. Five gross Arcana influence physical objects and forces, such as animals or fire. Five subtle Arcana manipulate intangible or entirely supernatural forces or ideas, like fortune and spirits or ghosts.

Arcana begin with 6 dots to assign.

At least 3 dots must be assigned between your two Ruling Arcana.

No more than 2 dots may be placed in any Arcana.

Arcana are limited to a total of 7 dots at approval.

Rotes

Rotes are codified spells which use structured formulas differing between Orders. Rotes incur less chance of Paradox and can be more easily cast than improvised spells.

Stagnation mires the illustrious Royal Society: innovation has faltered, secrets are known and magical real estate claimed, and enemies wiped off the board except for the Seers of the Throne. Entrenched Ministries and complacent Magisters permitted a detente lasting thirty years. Change is sacrificed for a few more years of waning glory and prestige in the shadow of the Pax Alba, a peace that cannot last. Stagnation only lasts so long, and Edinburgh's impending doom is a foregone conclusion for the Awakened.

All that remains is when.

Mages of all Paths and Orders await the pivotal moment when the golden age will finally fall and wash away all they have ever known.

The Bad CrowSummary: Rumours fly around the Royal Society that a nasty crow caused a ruckus on Hogmanay. Certain mages have stated they want an investigation and others may just want revenge. The particularly cheeky bird keeps showing up and causing trouble. Contact: Lohengrin, Sage, Ywain (NPC)

Checking In On MarvaSummary: Dextra needs a few unfamiliar faces to check in on Marva, a Moros of the Invisible College, who is on the outs with some of the Royal Society and turned back all friendlier summons point blank. The next step is Urien's provost stepping in and Dextra's not above trying to be more tactful than that! Dare the newcomers to Edinburgh enjoin themselves into the creepy annals of Supernal politics against someone known to send unwelcome trespassers home covered in ectoplasm and worse?Contact: Abbigail, Cairn, Lacrosse, Dextra (NPC)

Party RockSummary: The club scene in the West End is kicking, but everyone in the scene knows the real party is happening at the Underground, a killer club in scroungy, dodgy Craigmillar (G6). Hot girls, cheap booze, and an absolutely electric DJ make the 4 quid cover charge worth every pence. It's no place for the wallflowers. Lately things have been full on crazy, winkwinknudgenudge, and what happens in the Underground STAYS in the Underground because no one would believe it by the light of day...Contact: Mariner, Wulfdun, Ywain (NPC)